Saturday, January 31, 2015

Jesus said to the
Pharisees, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17, NIV). When Jesus
says he is not coming for the “righteous,”
he does not mean that some people don’t need him. The clue to what Jesus does
mean is his reference to himself as a physician. You go to a doctor only when
you have a health problem that you can’t deal with yourself, when you feel you
can’t get better through self-management. What do you want from a doctor? Not just
advice – but intervention. You don’t want a doctor simply say, “Yes, you are sick!” You want some medicine
or treatment.

Jesus calls people “righteous” who are in the same position spiritually as
those who won’t go to a doctor. “Righteous”
people believe they can “heal themselves,”
make themselves right with God by being good or moral. They don’t feel the need
for a soul physician, someone who intervenes and does what they can’t do
themselves. Jesus is teaching that he
has come to call sinners: those who know they are morally and spiritually
unable to save themselves.

Because the Lord of the
Sabbath, Jesus Christ, said, “It is finished,”
we can rest from religion – forever.

The renowned British
minister Dick Lucas once preached a sermon in which he recounted an imaginary
conversation between an early Christian and her neighbour in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbour says. “I
hear you are religious! Great! Religious is a good things. Where is your temple
or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. ‘Jesus
is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their rituals?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replied the
Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favour
of God?”

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

At first Jesus intentions
was to take his disciples away for a brief “staff retreat”. They had just
returned from their preaching mission and “met with Jesus, and
told him all they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30, GNB) and they were tired. Jesus understand their fatigue
and said to them, “Let us go off by
ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while”
(6:31). So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place. But the
crowd followed them by land and arrived ahead of them. Then Jesus was filled
with compassion. So he gathered them around and taught them.

By late afternoon the
disciples interrupted Jesus to tell him that “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the
people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy
themselves something to eat” (Mark 6:35-36). How considerate his
disciples were to their Master and the people’s welfare. There was no food
available, so it is practical to let the people go and find something to eat.
But Jesus commanded them a very unpractical command, “You yourselves give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37).
Doesn’t he knew that they were tired, a bit irritated by the people, and broke?
Why would he asked them to give the multitude of crowd something to eat? What
was in Jesus’ mind?

I think Jesus want to teach
his disciples some lessons here. First,
as it is also apply to us, that sometime we have to sacrifice our rest in order
to attend the immediate needs. My number one priority in student ministry
is to teach students to read and to live out the Gospel. There were time when I
was very tired that I want my personal quiet, solitude and rest, then suddenly
student leaders asked me to share God’s Word in their camp or Christian
fellowship at campus (obviously because the initial speaker doesn’t turned up).
What should I do? Say no and let the opportunity goes by? Never! First thing
first. God first, personal second. People first, program second. “Sheep without shepherd” (6:34) first, be alone and rest
second. Sometimes it’s the other way round. Use God-given wisdom and conscious.

Secondly, Jesus wants to teach them and us that
success in the ministry (and life!) is dependence on Him. I think when they “met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught”
(6:30) there was some proud moments involved. During the mission, they were
casting out demons and healed people. What can be more excited than that? Sometime accomplishments and successes in
ministry can intoxicated us with pride and sense of superiority. Overtime,
if we’re not careful, we will think that all the things that we have done and
achieved are due to our own efforts and independent from God. That’s why Jesus
said, “You yourselves give them
something to eat.”

Since they can’t do miracle
on their own, to feed more than 5,000 men, they gave the most practical and
calculative respond, “Do you want us to go
and spend two hundred silver coins on bread in order to feed them?”
(6:37). Peter and the gang why so cynical in your response, since you all had
casting out demons and healing the sick, can you all perform some miracle here?
No, Jesus will. He will show them and all of the people and us who the Boss is.
Who is the source of success in God’s Kingdom and the Person in whom should we
dependent upon.

So Jesus asked them, “How much bread have you got? Go and see” They told him, “Five loaves and also two fish” (Mark 6:38). Forget about
logical thinking, mathematic equations and the law of physic, Jesus the Lord of
all creation will defy all of them. “Jesus took the five
loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke
the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people… Everyone
ate and had enough… the number of men who were fed was 5,000” (Mark
41-44). Thirdly, Jesus teaches them and
us that nothing is impossible for God. It doesn’t matter how much we have
but how much we know who our God is. Even the situation may seem hopeless and
impossible – 5 loaves and 2 fish vs.
5,000 hungry men – God of the Bible can make thing happen! Here Jesus also showed (forth lessons) that God not only cares for our
spiritual needs (Jesus taught God’s Word) but also for our physical needs as
well (Jesus feeds his people). Just like Jesus, we should care for people’s
spiritual and physical needs around us too. Awesome Jesus! Thank you Lord.

Fifthly, by
performing this miracle, Jesus showed himself to be the Messiah.

The Jew expected the Messiah to bring manna down from
heaven

just as Moses had done in the wilderness. Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God.

Monday, January 26, 2015

After Jesus sends out the
twelves disciples for a mission, “the apostles
returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught”
(Mark 6:30, GNB). The disciples must be excited but tired, and so
they wanted to have a refreshing rest, away from the crowd. Jesus told them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we
will be alone and you can rest for a while” (Mark 6:31). “We” said Jesus. Jesus in his humanity
also felt the need for a rest. They worked very very hard, don’t you think?
God’s calling is not for us to sit back, relax and hoping for the best, right? We must “go”
(Matthew 28:19) and work hard, then,
only then we’re deserve to rest.

But “many
people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went
from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of
Jesus and his disciples. When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large
crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like
sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:33-34). Jesus heart was yearned
for the spiritual needs of the crowd flocking to him. Jesus was “moved with compassion” (NKJV). It is a feeling of strong-deep emotion acted with
positive action. It is a costly, self-giving compassion. Why? Because Jesus saw
them as a starving flock of sheep without a shepherd. They were like orphans
with no one to care for them. They were leaderless. This is why, I convince,
Jesus wasn’t annoyed but showed compassion.

There were a lot of
religious teachers during Jesus time, but why they were still leaderless? Same
as today, the people are “like sheep
without a shepherd.” When I read this, I’m thinking of how many
young people that I know of went to this and that event, jumping and singing,
having fun and ‘empowered’ by almost hysterical prayers, come back home empty
and their hearts and minds still hallow. There is something missing – God’s
Word. Someone missing – Lord of the Word – in their lives. When the supposed
teachers should feed the flock, they care more about church attendance,
personal spiritual growth and success, defending the faith with all might and
power, emphasising on musical worship, teaches church history and doctrines,
and even doing social work – everything – everything
(secondary) but feeding the people with God’s Word (primary). Where are the
teachers who supposed to teach people the Word of God?

For a shepherd, a teacher, a leader the main thing is
God’s Word. When I asked most people,
which book of the Bible are you all studying now, they blurred. When I told a
story of Jesus (basic) and asked do you remember reading this, I get silent
treatment. When I read this one church mission statement: “Untuk mempersiapkan jemaat dengan Firman TUHAN” (To equip the
church with God’s Word), I was so excited until I heard the preacher talked
about his endless journey of accomplishments and successes. Teachers, if you read this, we need you to
feed us with God’s Word. Sheep without a shepherd, and so the first thing
Jesus does was “he began to teach them many things”
(Mark 6:34). Not complaining and whining about having no rest (or salary) but
seeing people as God’s answer to our revival prayer. Not irritated by them but
having a deep compassion with action like Jesus. Not feeding the five thousand
with five loaves and two fish first but feeding the people with God’s Word
first. Jesus teaches the people first.

In Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, on Domino Day, November 13, 2009,
Weijers Domino Productions coordinated the world record domino fall by lining
up more than 4,491,863 dominoes in a dazzling display. In this instance, a
single domino fall that cumulatively unleased more than 94,000 joules of
energy, which is as much energy as it takes for an average sized male to do 545
push ups.

Each standing domino represents a small amount of potential energy; the
more you line up, the more potential energy you’ve accumulated. Line up enough
and, with a simple flick, you can start a chain reaction of surprising power. And
Weijers Domino Productions proved it. When one thing, the right thing, is set
in motion, it can topple many things. And that’s not all.

In 1983, Lorne Whitehead wrote in the American Journal of Physics that he’d discovered that domino falls
could not only topple many things, they could also topple bigger things. He described
how a single domino is capable of bringing down another domino that is actually
50 percent larger.

Do you see the implication? Not only can one knock over others but also
others that are successively large. In 2001 a physicist from San Francisco’s
Exploratorium reproduced Whitehead’s experiment by creating eight dominos out
of plywood, each of which was 50 percent larger than then one before. The first
was a mere two inches, the last almost three feet tall. The resulting domino
fall began with a gentle tick and quickly ended “with a loud SLAM.”

Imagine what would happen if this kept going. If a regular domino fall
is a linear progression, Whitehead’s
would be described as a geometric
progression. The result could defy the imagination. The 10th domino
would be almost as tall as NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. By the 18th,
you’re looking at a domino that would rival the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The 23rd
domino would tower over the Eiffel Tower and the 31st domino would
loom over Mount Everest by almost 3,000 feet. Number 57 would practically
bridge the distance between the earth and the moon! …so when you think about
success, shoot for the moon.

[Like The Domino Effect] when you see someone who has a lot of
knowledge, they learned it over time. When you see someone who has a lot of
skills, they developed them over time. When you see someone who has done a lot,
they accomplished it over time. When you see someone who has a lot of money,
they earned it over time.

The key is over time. Success is built sequentially. Its one thing at a
time.*

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

I heard someone said, “You’re not ready to live until you’re ready
to die.” Then I read the Book of Mark
and tempted to alter that statement slightly to fit the death of John the
Baptist in Mark 6:14-29 like this: “You’re not ready to live for Christ until you’re ready to die for
Christ.” That is something that we all need to think about time and
time again.

I remember when my senior asked
me who my hero is, I answered without a pause, “John the Baptist!” I’m not sure exactly why I said something rash
like that, but I was (and is) admired John’s boldness and fearless living. John
boldly and publicly scolded Herod for his sinful involvement with Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife by saying, “It isn’t right for
you to marry your brother’s wife!” (Mark 6:18, GNB). Because of that Herod imprisoned John. On the other
hand, Herodias “held grudge against John
and wanted to kill him, but she could not because of Herod. Herod was afraid of
John because he knew that John was a good and holy man, and so he kept him
safe. He liked to listen to him, even though he became greatly disturbed every
time he heard him” (Mark 6:119-20). Herod have a divided heart, a
love-hate relationship with John.

But in the end of this recap
story by Mark, Herodias eventually succeeded in having John executed. How? Through
Herod’s lush and speedy vow he made in front of his guests due to a seductive dance
by a young woman a.k.a. his own step daughter! The request was easy and simple:
“I want you to give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on
a plate!” (Mark 6:25). The reason was also simple: because John was
telling the truth. Truth hurt, telling
the truth may kill you. Good bye John the Baptist…

Now, I don’t believe that
every time we speak out for God and tell the truth we will end up with death
sentence. Sometime we may risk our lives, sometime we may just be ignored. But nonetheless,
like John the Baptist, we are not ready
to live for Christ until we are ready to die for Christ. What if God asked
you to put your life in the line by doing something like John? How would you
respond? It’s not an easy topic to discuss because humanly speaking we treasured
our lives more than Christ (especially, when you read this you’re at your comfortable
place and perhaps a good life). It’s easy for me to say to God that I will walk
with Him, talk with Him, read His Word and witness for Him, but it’s not easy,
even for you, to say “Jesus, I’ll gladly
die for you” and mean it.

Seriously, brothers and
sisters in Christ, whether we’re able to say and mean it or not, when we signed on as Jesus’ disciples, to
follow Him rather than the world systems and religious, we’re signed for the
Cross too (with that we also will have eternal life in Him). When we become
Christians, true Christians – we are potential martyrs. Living for Jesus means that
there is nothing more important than finding out what Jesus loves and hates,
feeling and thinking, commands and joyfully obey. We probably, especially in
Malaysia, might not experience death as a martyrs today like many Christians
throughout the church history or like John the Baptist. But we should always be
ready for the possibility (Just read the news). I’m thinking, what is the best
way to be ready for the persecutions to come? This sentence from the beginning
comes to mind: “You’re not ready to live
for Christ until you’re ready to die for Christ.” We must be ready
to live every day for Christ. This or never.

“Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household” (Acts 16:31)

Whenever I’m losing my
focus, I’ll come back to my old friend. A good friend that was very faithful to
his Lord. A friend that I cherish because he loves Jesus more than his life. A
teacher, mentor and brother. My dead old friend that always remind me of what’s
matter most in my life – Jesus. His name
is Charles H. Spurgeon (1834 – 1892). These words of wisdom speaking to me
about the urgency of Christ’s message to all people, why sometime we have to
say what we need to say even if people may not like it. Truth is like that…

“Everybody says, ‘Be quiet about the wrath to come, or you
will have everybody down upon you.’ Be down upon me, then! I will not soften God’s word to please
anybody; and the Word of the Lord is very clear on this matter. If you receive not
the Lord Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins. If you believe not in
Him, you must perish from His presence. There is a day coming when you will
die. After this, comes another day when you must appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, and all your actions shall be published, and you shall be
judged for the things done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be
evil. And then you shall receive the sentence of, ‘Come, you blessed,’ or ‘Depart,
you cursed.’

Do you think we like to
preach this? Do you think that it is any pleasure to the servant of God to
deliver these heavy things? Oh, no! We speak in the bitterness of our spirit
every often, but we speak because we dare not refrain. It is infinitely better that men should be told the truth than that
they should be flattered by a lie into eternal ruin. He ought to have the
commendation of all men, not who makes things pleasant, but who speaks things
truly. Somebody is preaching of how to get people out of Hell. I preach about
how to keep them out of Hell. Do not go there. Keep you clear of the fire,
which never can be quenched. Escape for your lives; look not behind you; stay
not in all the plain, but haste to
Christ, the mountain of salvation, and put your trust in Him.”

Sunday, January 18, 2015

“Now King Herod heard about
all this, because Jesus’ reputation had spread everywhere. Some people were
saying, ‘John the Baptist has come back
to life! That is why he has this power to perform miracles.’ Others,
however, said, ‘He is Elijah.’ Others
said, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the
prophets of long ago.’ When Herod heard it, he said, ‘He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to
life!’” (Mark 6:14-16, GNB).

After Jesus sends out the
twelves disciples (read Mark 6:6-13)
for mission around Nazareth nearby villages, “Jesus’ reputation had spread everywhere.”Because of
this, there are many speculations about who he really is. Some thought he was Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament.
It is commonly expected that Elijah would return to prepare the way for the
coming of the Messiah (However, John the Baptist fulfilled this expectation in preparing
the way for Jesus). Others, however, thought that he simply one of the prophets sent by God to
Israel. Jesus spoke with authority like no other and probably he was because there
had been silent in Israel for three centuries since prophet Malachi.

Most people, like Herod,
thought that Jesus was John the Baptist.
Of course, both of them preached the message of the Kingdom of God and called people
to repentance. Some suggest because Jesus and John were cousins, they might
have looked alike. Interesting. But the fact was – John is death. Herod out of
his guilty and bad memory said, “I had [John] head
cut off, but he has come back to life!” Guilty breed superstition.

I’m surprise, people even today won’t allow Jesus to
be Jesus. We like to compare him with other great men of the world. But he is the
One and only. None like him. Even though
Jesus said “among those born of women
there is no one greater than John” (Luke 7:28), John said that Jesus
“is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not
worthy to untie” (John 1:27). Jesus
is greater, incomparable One. Michael Green in his book Navigating the Multi-Faith Maze, writes:
“Jesus is unique among religious leaders
in claiming to bring God to our world in His own person and making good that
claim by such powerful evidences.” When I read the Gospel stories and think
of history of today, no other spiritual leader or teacher but Jesus of Nazareth
ever claimed to bring God to man, dealt radically with our wickedness, broke
the final barrier of death and to offers to ‘live inside’ his followers.

C.S. Lewis, my favourite author,
said that when it comes to the categorical claims of Jesus Christ regarding his
Divinity, “There is no half-way house,
and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and
asked him, ‘Are you the son of Brahah?’ he would have said, ‘My son, you are still
in the vale of illusion.’ If you had gone to Socrates and asked, ‘Are you Zeus?’
he would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, ‘Are you
Allah?’ he would first have rent his clothes and then cut off your head.” When
the high priest asked Jesus, “I demand in the name
of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in
the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s
right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:63-64, NLT). No denial. Directly answered. Jesus, are you the
Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God? Yes, you say that I am.

Do you want
to know Jesus? Let him be as he
is. Let he tells you His Story through
God’s Word, the Bible, especially the gospel stories. Don’t be afraid. There
is no spell or magical charm about the Bible. The Bible is just a book, an
ordinary book. The greatness about the Bible is the Person behind the book. This
is why the Bible, on the other hand, is extraordinary. Your religious teachers
may advice you to stay away from the book, but don’t be afraid. Let Jesus be Jesus.
Another way is through Prayer. Pray
like this: “Jesus, I don’t know if you’re
for real or not. I want to know you more. Amen.” Be open to any guidance in
your life. See that if you really looking for the truth, God will show you the
way. Let Jesus be Jesus. Another way or as compliment to the Bible and prayer
is to join God’s People Worshiping Together.
There is something unique about Christians coming together. Don’t be afraid.
Just enter in, dress appropriately, people won’t chase you away. Your present
in the ‘live’ worship may just a stepping stone for Jesus to speak to you. The people
won’t convert you, the presence of the Holy Spirit will. No force. Jesus want
to be known, that’s all. Let Jesus be Jesus.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

left the house and went off
to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
(Mark 1:35)

We live in a very busy and noisy world. Think about how life was less busy and much quieter
(imagine) 100 years ago, 300 years ago, 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago, 10,000
years ago. It is only in recent time the world has become extremely busy and
very noisy. We might probably not adapted to this yet, since everything changes
so fast nowadays. Whenever we thoughts we have settled, another changes took
place, even now. The most suffers are the young generations. We have iPad,
iPhone, iPod, Facebook, Twitters, Instagram, assignments, practises, classes, and
hundreds of mundane works!

Therefore, we need to experience quiet time in order
to balance the busyness and loudness of life. Seek out and take advantage of
quiet time. I know, for most of us, it is common to think of time spent
doing nothing or solitude relaxing as a “waste” of time. But it is actually
just the opposite. Everyone needs to pause, slow down, stop, breathe, and be in
a solitude with God. Solitude is not loneliness. Loneliness is inner emptiness,
whereas solitude is inner plenty. Loneliness is marked by a sense of isolation.
Solitude, on the other hand, is a state of being alone without being lonely and
can lead to self-awareness.

I don’t know if you
realize this or not, but Jesus practised quiet time and solitude during his
life and ministry. Jesus did not get away by himself just to get away from
people, of course. But he used time of solitude as a means of getting closer to
God. In his humanity, he knew that he needed to maintain a close relationship
with God if he wanted to be effective in his ministry. He wanted a close
relationship with the Father. He wanted to hear God whisper. He wanted to hear
that “still small voice” of the Father speaks to him. So, Jesus intentionally
sought quiet time and solitude so that he could hear God’s voice clearer.

Follow Jesus. Seek out
your personal quiet time. By doing so, you are developing a sense of calm awareness,
patience, attentive, refreshed and centred. This is something that will come in
handy, possibly save you, many time in the future. Friends, the quieter you become – in heart, soul and mind – the more
you can hear… there is heavenly music in silence.

Psalm 46 background are very busy and noisy,

But God through the psalmist still can say, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Verse 10)